The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period

1064 Pages·2010·23.91 MB·English

by  Amelie Kuhrt

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period
This lavish volume contains the most complete collection of raw material for reconstructing
the history of the Achaemenid Persian empire in existence.
The Achaemenid dynasty (550-330 BC) ruled over the first and largest 'world empire' in
history: the Persian empire extended from Central Asia in the east to the Jews and Greeks in
the west, with fingers of control in the fringes of the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere.
Its sheer size was a factor in its destruction by Alexander the Great, yet long after its
dismemberment its influence can be seen in the development of Judaism, the Old Testament
of the Bible, and the formation of classical Greece.
Studying Achaemenid history has therefore been difficult in the past because original
sources include texts from hugely disparate origins, many different languages and various
periods in history; the risk is to rely too heavily on prejudiced and often inaccurate Greek and
Roman sources.
Amelie Kuhrt presents here an unprecedented collection of key texts to form a complete
and balanced representation of all aspects of the empire, in her own translations from their
original Greek, Old Persian, Akkadian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Egyptian or Latin.
Kuhrt selects from classical writers, the Old Testament, royal inscriptions, administrative
documents and Babylonian historical writing, as well as examining evidence from archaeo
logical sites. All material is accompanied by a detailed introduction to the sources and
guidelines to their interpretation.
A truly monumental achievement, this collection will prove to be the ultimate resource for
any student of Persian history, from undergraduate level to the most advanced scholar.
AmeIie Kuhrt is an Ancient Historian specialising in the Middle East, particularly the history
of Mesopotamia and Iran in the first millennium Be. She is Professor of Ancient Near Eastern
History at University College London and fellow of the British Academy.
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
Amelie Kuhrt
I
~ ~~o~!~;n~~:up
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2007
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
First published in paperback in 2010
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2007, 2010 Amelie Kuhrt
Typeset in Joanna by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN10: 0-415-43628-1 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-415-55279-6 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-43628-1 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-55279-0 (pbk)
OUTLINE OF CONTENTS
List of illustrations xlvi
Preface and acknowledgements 1
Introduction 1
1 The sources 6
PART I
Prehistory and formation of the empire (c.750-520) 17
2 The Medes 19
3 Cyrus the Great 47
4 The reign of Cambyses 104
5 From Cambyses to Darius I 135
PART II
Achaemenid history and its problems 179
6 The empire under Darius I: expansion, revolt, consolidation 181
7 The reign of Xerxes 238
8 From Artaxerxes I to the last years of Darius II (465-405) 310
9 Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III (405-338) 347
10 The fall of the Achaemenid empire (338-330) 418
v
OUTLINE OF CONTENTS
PART III
Kings and kingship 467
11 Images of empire, visions of majesty and the divine framework 469
12 The organisation of the court 576
13 Mechanisms of power 620
PART IV
Achaemenid imperial organisation 667
14 Tribute, tax, imposts 669
15 Routes and communication networks 730
16 Bureaucracy, production, settlement 763
1 7 Unity and diversity 826
Tables 879
Index of texts 890
List of abbreviations 910
Bibliography 919
General index 953
vi
CONTENTS
List of illustrations xlvi
Preface and acknowledgements I
Introduction 1
(a) The physical environment 2
(b) The political situation preceding the Persian empire 4
1 The sources 6
( a) Classical writers 6
(b) Old Testament books 10
( c ) Royal inscriptions 10
(d) Administrative documents 11
( e) Archaeological sites 13
(f) Implications 14
PART I
Prehistory and formation of the empire (c.750-520) 17
2 The Medes 19
Introduction 19
2.A. The official Assyrian presentation of the Medes 22
1. Tiglath-pileser III (745-727) 22
(i) Year 2 (744) (Tadmor 1994, Iran Stele IB, 5'-14') 22
(ii) Year 9 (737) (Tadmor 1994, Iran Stele lIB, 25'-44') 22
2. Sargon II (722-705) 24
(i) Year 6 (716) (Levine 1972, NajafehebadStela, 46-71) 24
(ii) Year 7 (715) (Lie 1929, Sargon Annals, 114-16) 25
(iii) Year 8 (714) (TCL 3, Sargon's 8th Campaign, 38-51) 25
(iv) Year 9 (713) (Lie 1929, Sargon Annals, 191-4) 25
vii
CONTENTS
3. Sennacherib (705-681), Year 2 (703) (Luckenbill 1924, Bellino
Cylinder, p.60, 1.33) 26
4. Esarhaddon (681-669), Year 5? (676?) (Borger 1956, Nineveh A-F,
Ep.15-16) 26
5. Ashurbanipal (669-c.630), c.658 (Piepkorn 1933, Prism B, iv 3-8) 27
2.B. Assyro-Median relations in the central Zagros as revealed by Assyrian
queries to the Sun God (reign of Esarhaddon 681-669) 27
6. Kashtaritu of Karkashshi forms an alliance against Assyria
(SAA 4, no.43) 27
7. Kashtaritu makes peace overtures to the Assyrians (SAA 4, nos.56-7) 28
8. The Assyrians plan an attack on Kashtaritu (SAA 4, no.62) 28
9. Assyrian tribute-gathering in Media (SAA 4, no.64) 29
2. C. The Medes and the fall of Assyria 30
10. Babylonians and Medes victorious over Assyria (ABC, no.3) 30
11. Median destruction of sanctuaries during the war against Assyria
(VAB 4, Nbn.8) 33
2.D. The Scythians in the Zagros 33
12. Peace negotiations between Assyria and the Scythians (SAA 4, no.20) 33
2.E. Later writers on the Medes 34
13. Herodotus' view of the development of Median kingship (Hdt. I,
96-101) 34
14. The successors of Deiokes and the Median struggle against Assyria
(Hdt. I, 102-7) 35
15. The Lydo-Median conflict (Hdt. I, 73-4) 38
16. Ctesias' story of the fall of Assyria to the Medes (FGrH 688 F 1 b) 39
17. The Median dynasty according to Ctesias (FGrH 688 F5) 43
18. Relations between the Babylonian and Median king according to a
late Babylonian writer 44
(i) Nabopolassar and Astyages (FGrH 680 F8b) 44
(ii) Nebuchadnezzar and the Median princess (FGrH 680 F9a) 44
1 9. Life at the Median court according to Xenophon 45
(i) Court dress (Xen. Cyrop. I, 3.2-3) 45
(ii) Eating, drinking and audience at court (Xen. Cyrop. I, 3.4) 45
3 Cyrus the Great 47
Introduction 47
3.A. The expansion of Persia under Cyrus II 50
1. Cyrus' defeat of the Medes and his conquest of Babylonia (ABC, no. 7) 50
viii
CONTENTS
3.B. Persia before Cyrus II 53
2. A 'Persian' hostage at the Assyrian court? (Weidner 1931-2,
Nassouhi Prism, 11.7-13) 53
3. Inscription on cylinder seal of Cyrus I (PFS 93*) 54
4. Transactions in the Palace of Susa (MDP 9, no. 34) 55
5. The Persian tribes (Hdt. I, 125) 55
3.C. Cyrus defeats Astyages, king of the Medes 56
6. Nabonidus' vision of Cyrus' war against the Medes (VAB 4, Nbn.1) 56
7. Herodotus' story of Cyrus' defeat of Astyages (Hdt. I, 127-8; 130) 57
8. Ctesias' story of Cyrus' defeat of Astyages and its consequences
(FGrH 688 F9 (1-3)) 58
9. The further fate of Astyages (Justin I, 6.16) 59
10. The death of Astyages (FGrH 688 F9(6)) 59
11. Cyrus' take-over of Median power according to Xenophon
(Xen. eyrop. VIII, 5.17-20) 60
3.D. Cyrus' conquest of Lydia and western Asia Minor 60
(a) Herodotus' version of the fall of Lydia 60
12. Croesus plans to make war on Cyrus (Hdt. I, 53-4) 60
13. Croesus attacks Cyrus (Hdt. I, 73; 75-7) 61
14. Croesus defeated and Sardis besieged (Hdt. I, 79-81) 62
15. The fall of Sardis (Hdt. I, 84) 63
16. The Persians in Sardis and the fate of Croesus (Hdt. I, 85-8) 64
(b) Greek images of Croesus' fate preceding Herodotus 65
17. The fate of Croesus recalled by the poet Bacchylides (Maehler
1982/1997,F3) 65
(c) Ctesias' version of the Lydian conquest 67
1 8. The capture of Sardis (FGrH 688 F9 ( 4 ) ) 67
19. Croesus' miraculous delivery (FGrH 688 F9(5)) 68
(d) Aftermath 68
20. The consolidation of the Lydian conquest (Hdt. I, 141; 153.3-154;
156.2-157; 160.1-4; 161-3.1; 168-9; 171.1 68
3.E. The Persian conquest of Babylonia 70
(a) The Babylonian evidence 70
21. Marduk leads Cyrus into Babylon (Weissbach 1911 + BIN 2, no.32) 70
22. Cyrus' activities in Babylonian cities 74
(i) U ruk (Weiss bach 1 911: 8-9; Walker 1 98 1 , no. 115) 74
(ii) Ur (UET 1, no.194) 75
ix
CONTENTS
(iii) Cyrus acknowledges the help of Sin of Ur in his conquest(?)
(UET 1, no.307) 75
23. A poetic condemnation of Nabonidus and paean in praise of
Cyrus (BHT, 83-91) 75
24. Cyrus' rule in Babylonia in 'prophetic' perspective (BHLT, 28; 32-3) 80
25. Berossus' account of Cyrus' Babylonian conquest (FGrH 680 F10a) 81
(b) Old Testament writers and the Persian conquest of Babylon 82
26. Yahweh chooses Cyrus as ruler of the world (Isaiah 41; 42; 44-45) 82
27. Cyrus' decree sanctioning restoration of the Jerusalem temple
(Ezra 6.2-5) 84
( c) A Greek version 85
28. Herodotus' account (Hdt. I, 177-8; 188-92) 85
3.F. Pasargadae, the city of Cyrus 87
29. The tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadae (Arr. Anab. VI, 29.4-7) 87
3.G. Legends of Cyrus 92
(a) Family, birth, childhood and rise to power 92
30. Herodotus' story of Cyrus' origins and birth (Hdt. I, 95; 107-13) 92
31. Cyrus restored to his parents (Hdt. I, 114-23) 94
32. Cyrus' family and youth according to Ctesias (FGrH 90 F66(1-7)) 97
33. Cyrus' family according to Xenophon (Xen. Cyrop. I, 2.1-3.2) 98
(b) The death of Cyrus 99
34. Herodotus' moralising tale of Cyrus' death among the nomads
(Hdt. I, 201; 205-6; 208; 211-14) 99
35. Cyrus' death in the east according to Ctesias (FGrH 688 F9(7-8)) 101
36. Xenophon's picture: Cyrus dies at home surrounded by his family
and officials (Xen. Cyrop. VIII, 7) 102
37. Cyrus' reputation (Hdt. III, 160) 103
4 The reign of Cambyses 104
Introduction 104
4.A. The accession of Cambyses 106
1. Cambyses' parentage (Hdt. II, 1) 106
2. Cambyses' accession and his courtiers (FGrH 688 F13 (9)) 107
4.B. Explanations for Cambyses' Egyptian campaign 107
3. A Persian story (Hdt. III, 1) 107
4. The Egyptian version (Hdt. III, 2) 108
x